October 23 is eclipse day! Watch online here

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October 23 is eclipse day! Watch online here

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Tonight for October 23, 2014

Courtesy U.S. Naval Observatory

You can watch the October 23, 2014 partial solar eclipse online, right here at Earthsky.org, on the player below. It will convert to a live player when the show begins. The free, real-time view of the eclipse starts at 21:00 UTC (2 p.m. PDT / 4 p.m. CDT/ 5 p.m. EDT). EarthSky’s own Deborah Byrd will be joining the show at 22:20 UTC (5:20 CDT).Convert UTC to your time zone

Leslie C. Peltier, author of the celebrated 1965 book Starlight Nights, described watching a solar eclipse through a telescope:

I shifted the telescope ever so slightly toward the western edge of the sun – then, a moment later, I was staring spellbound, as the moon, right on time, took its first little nibble out of the red-hot cookie of the sun.

People in North America can relive Peltier’s experience by watching the new moon taking a bite out of the sun’s disk during the afternoon hours on October 23, 2014. Remember, it’s of the utmost importance to use proper eye protection when watching the partial eclipse of the sun, with or without an optical aid, so that you don’t risk serious eye injury or blindness. Click on the links below to find out how to watch the solar eclipse safely and to know when this eclipse is happening in your sky.How can I safely watch a partial solar eclipse?October 23 eclipse times for North American Time ZonesEclipse calculators give eclipse times for your skyWhat causes a solar eclipse?October 23, 2014 solar eclipse via shadowsandsubstance.comThe partial solar eclipse can be viewed as far north as the Arctic and as far south as Mexico. It can be seen as far east as the American East Coast and as far west as the American West Coast, and much of the Pacific Ocean to the north of Hawaii. The numbers from 0.20, 0.40, 0.60 and 0.80 represent the magnitude of the eclipse – the fraction of the solar diameter that is covered over by the moon. Image credit: NASA Web Site PageEclipse glasses enable you to safely watch a solar eclipse. We offer eclipse glasses at the EarthSky store.How can I safely watch a partial solar eclipse?Unless you’re quite practiced at using a telescope and have a proper filter, don’t even try watching the partial solar eclipse through the telescope. Your best bet is to locate an astronomy club or an observatory near you that might be hosting a public viewing of this natural spectacle. Find an astronomy club here. You don’t need a telescope or an optical aid to view this eclipse, but you do need proper eye protection. Safely and inexpensively watch this partial eclipse with eclipse glasses, or make a simple pinhole projector to indirectly view the solar eclipse, as explained here. You can also turn the telescope or binoculars into a pinhole camera, to indirectly and safely view any solar eclipse.As shown in the photo below, trees serve as natural pinhole projectors, casting leaf shadows and images of the eclipse galore. When you see the scene for yourself, you may want to sing along with the Beatles:

Images of broken light which dance before me like a million eyes, they call me on and on across the universe.

Read more: How to watch a partial solar eclipse safelyTrees serve as natural pinhole projectors, casting images galore of the partial solar eclipse. Image credit: torbakhopperAnimation showing the moon’s penumbral shadow sweeping from west to east across the Earth’s surface on October 23, 2014.Eclipse times for North American time zonesWe list the eclipse times for certain localities at North American time zones in local time. However, the eclipse times will vary somewhat even within the same time zone. An expanded list of local eclipse times are available for US cities or Canadian and Mexican cities. All times are in local time, so no conversion is necessary!Eastern Daylight TimePhiladelphia, Pennsylvania Solar eclipse begins: 17:51 (5:51 p.m.) EDT Greatest Eclipse: 18:08 (6:08 p.m.) EDT Sunset before end of eclipse Maximum obscuration of solar disk: 10%Central Daylight TimeSt. Louis, Missouri Solar eclipse begins: 16:41 (4:41 p.m.) CDT Greatest eclipse: 17:47 (5:47 p.m.) CDT Sunset before end of eclipse Maximum obscuration of solar disk: 39%Mountain Daylight TimeDenver, Colorado Solar eclipse begins: 15:18 (3:18 p.m.) MDT Greatest eclipse: 16:35 (4:35 p.m.) MDT Solar eclipse ends: 17:44 (5:44 p.m.) MDT Maximum obscuration of solar disk: 45%Pacific Daylight TimeSan Francisco, California Solar eclipse begins: 13:52 (1:52 p.m.) PDT Greatest eclipse: 16:35 (4:35 p.m.) PDT Solar eclipse ends: 17:44 (5:44 p.m.) PDT Maximum obscuration of solar disk: 39%Alaska Daylight TimeAnchorage, Alaska Solar eclipse begins: 11:55 a.m. AKDT Greatest eclipse: 13:11 (1:11 p.m.) AKDT Solar eclipse ends: 14:28 (2:28 p.m.) AKDT Maximum obscuration of solar disk: 55%Eclipse calculators gives eclipse times for your skyWe present two eclipse calculators, enabling you to find out eclipse times in your sky. Timeanddate.com gives the eclipse times in your local time, so no conversion is necessary. The US Naval observatory lists the eclipse times in Universal Time, so you must convert Universal Time to your local clock time. Subtract 4 hours for EDT, 5 hours for CDT, 6 hours for MDT and 7 hours for PDT.Eclipse calculator courtesy of timeadndate.comEclipse computer courtesy of the US Naval ObservatoryHow do I convert Universal Time into my time?When the new moon very closely aligns with one of its nodes, the moon’s dark umbral shadow falls on Earth, presenting a total eclipse of the sun. However, the alignment is too inexact for the moon’s umbral shadow to fall on Earth on October 23, so only the penumbral shadow hits Earth, to feature a partial lunar eclipse. Image credit: WikipediaAnimation showing the moon’s penumbral shadow sweeping from west to east across the Earth’s surface on October 23, 2014.What causes a solar eclipse?A solar eclipse happens whenever the new moon passes in front of the sun, and the moon’s shadow falls on our planet. A solar eclipse is only possible at new moon because that’s the only time whereby the moon to go in front of the sun, as seen from Earth. Most of the time, however, the new moon either swings north or south of the solar disk, so no eclipse of the sun takes place.The plane of the moon’s orbit around Earth is inclined at 5o to the plane of the Earth’s orbit around the sun. For half the month, the moon orbits Earth to the north of the ecliptic (Earth’s orbital plane); and for the other half of the month, the moon orbits Earth to the south of the ecliptic (Earth’s orbital plane). Twice a month, however, the moon crosses the Earth’s orbital plane at points called nodes. If the moon is traveling from north to south, it’s called a descending node, and when it’s going from south to north, it’s called an ascending node.When a new moon happens while the moon is appreciably close to one of its nodes, a solar eclipse is not only possible – but inevitable. It’s far from a perfect alignment this time around, though, as the moon reaches its ascending node about 21 hours before the moon turns new. Thereby, the moon’s dark umbral shadow misses Earth completely, falling some 675 kilometers (420) miles above the Earth’s surface. Although no total solar eclipse can be seen from Earth, the new moon happens close enough to its ascending node for the moon’s penumbral shadow to fall on Earth and for a partial solar eclipse to take place at northerly latitudes. Bottom line: A partial solar eclipse is visible to those in North America on October 23, 2014. You must use proper eye protection to view the partial eclipse of the sun, with or without an optical aid, so that you don’t risk serious eye injury or blindness. This post offers tips on how to watch the solar eclipse safely and how to know when this eclipse is happening in your sky.

Thanks to: http://earthsky.org

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“Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.” Martin Luther King Jr